Editorial: Physician, heal thyself

Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005 | 8:09 a.m.

On Aug. 29, the day Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast with full force, Michael Brown, then-director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, did not know who would be coordinating relief and rescue efforts at the scene. This, despite intense warnings about a Gulf Coast disaster since the storm made a fatal landing in Florida four days earlier.

It wasn't until the evening of Aug. 30 that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff named Brown as the on-site coordinator. E-mails reviewed by the Washington Post show that one of Brown's first reactions was to complain about his assignment.

The newspaper reported Tuesday that it was able to obtain 20 of about 80 e-mails to and from Brown between Aug. 23 and Sept. 12. They were part of a bundle of documents provided by the Homeland Security Department to a House committee investigating why the response to the disaster went so wrong.

Chertoff is scheduled to appear before the committee today. Among the questions he should face is one asking why he procrastinated in naming an on-site coordinator. And he should be asked why he chose the reluctant Brown, instead of a manager with hands-on experience in such an effort.

The Senate also has a committee investigating the Katrina response. It has requested documents from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, in an effort to determine what went wrong on the local levels.

While the Senate is looking outward for blame, there also needs to be a look inward. It was the Senate, after all, that in 2002 confirmed Brown as FEMA's deputy director. Brown went on to become director, without a confirmation hearing, when FEMA was absorbed into the Homeland Security Department.

Brown's confirmation, as the minutes of his hearing show, was sorely lacking in substance. Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., introduced Brown and went though all of his pre-FEMA jobs, including his 1991-2000 position as commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association.

Despite the jobs having nothing to do with emergency services, Campbell concluded, "I cannot state firmly enough that I believe Michael Brown to be more than qualified to serve FEMA and the people of this country ... " That statement reflects the whole tone of the lightweight hearing. Katrina, of course, revealed the now-ousted Brown to be far less than qualified.

The congressional investigations may well point up flaws in the new Homeland Security Department. But they should not serve as the sole guide for future reforms. The Senate, for example, cannot be expected to objectively examine its method for conducting critical confirmation hearings. And the House investigating committee's members are all Republicans, as the Democrats have refused to join because they support an independent investigation.

We hold the same view. An independent commission, similar to the one that investigated the 9/11 terrorist attacks, should be convened. An independent commission, freed of partisan obligations and internal culpability, has the best chance of truly identifying what went wrong and recommending improved response plans for the future.